( epilepsy. These improperly function...)Deflecting Damage: Flexible Electronics Aid Brain Injury Research,Health

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These improperly functioning neurons can now be assessed by the electrodes in the stretchable membranes. After brain cells have been placed on the flexible surface and allowed to grow, the researchers measure their normal activity. The membrane is then suddenly stretched and returned to its original form. Having withstood the shock, the electrodes embedded in the membrane continue to monitor the cellular activity, providing a before and after picture of traumatic brain injury.

Future work will continue to refine these measurements and also attempt to obtain readings from cells during the injury events themselves, Morrison said. The flexible electrodes also can be used to provide electrical input to brain tissue and may one day be used to induce learning in brain cells damaged by trauma. This technology also has promising applications for the engineering of nervous, muscular and skeletal tissue. For instance, Morrison said, the electrodes could potentially be used to train heart tissue grown in the lab to contract appropriately when stimulated.

The new membranes build upon work done by Lacour during her time at Princeton in Wagner’s lab. Lacour now is managing research in flexible electronics for neuroscience at the University of Cambridge in England. She has been recognized by Technology Review magazine, which named her to its 2006 list of 35 leading innovators under age 35.

Together, the engineers created the first working stretchable circuits by linking tiny pieces of traditional semiconductors mounted on a rubbery membrane with thin pieces of gold. Even when stretched, the circuits maintained their ability to conduct electricity.

Research on the flexible membranes also is likely to contribute to the longstanding challenge of connecting electronic devices to the human nervous system, Wagner said. Prosthetic devices, for example, could be coated with electronic “skin” that senses touch and temperatur
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